See Us at GPS2015

BASF and Heritage Plastics, Inc. form strategic partnership to bring ecovio® manufacturing to North America

FLORHAM PARK, NJ, September 24, 2013 – BASF announced today that it has formed a strategic manufacturing partnership with Heritage Plastics, Inc. to produce ecovio® certified compostable products in North America.

The partnership enables BASF to begin manufacturing ecovio® biopolymers outside of Europe to better serve its customers and to further focus on growth in the rapidly developing North American market.

Production of ecovio® will begin September 2013 at the Heritage facility in Picayune, Mississippi.

"At BASF, we strive to find new ways to offer our customers the best solutions for their evolving needs," said Juergen Keck, Vice President Global Business Management Biopolymers. "Our partnership with Heritage Plastics allows us to respond efficiently to a growing market and pass along numerous benefits to our customers in North America."

Through the partnership, BASF will draw upon years of compound manufacturing experience at Heritage Plastics, marrying that with the innovative chemistry of ecovio®. ecovio® will be exclusively marketed and available for purchase from BASF, while maintaining a production partnership with Heritage.

"Combining our experience and expertise with BASF's to broaden the production of ecovio® products was a natural fit," said Paul Lewis, President of Heritage Plastics. "Both companies are focused on helping customers achieve success by providing them the best in product quality, as well as exemplary service and support on a global scale."

By expanding manufacturing of ecovio products in North America, BASF will supply the highest quality, premium compostable products while also improving delivery flexibility, increasing reaction speed to market needs, enhancing product availability and providing more customization for new applications. ecovio® products have been available commercially in the United States, Canada and Mexico since 2007, with production taking place in Germany.

Heritage Plastics Announces HM10® Technology for Injection Molding

Heritage Plastics announces HM10® Max and PolyMax™LC (utilizing a PE carrier) and HiCal™LC (in PP carrier) for injection molding to help make an environmentally friendly product.

Heritage offers many calcium concentrates using HM10® Technology for injection molding that deliver many environmental advantages. HM10® Max reduces the petrochemical component via substitution with a natural mineral. Significant energy savings are obtained with faster cycle times and lower amp draw. Both factors combined deliver an significant reduction in the amount of green house gases emitted into the atmosphere.

In a recent application, a leading cap molder used Heritage Plastics PolyMax™LC (with HM10® Technology) to produce a better product while reducing their overall carbon footprint. In addition to producing a stiffer more desirable product, this additive also decreased electrical consumption. In addition, the PolyMax™LC turned the caps a shade of white, thereby eliminating the need to purchase the color additives from China. All these factors combined provided a substantial sustainable benefit.

Heritage Plastics is also offering customers the opportunity for labeling end products and citing the environmental advantages that the addition of their calcium carbonate concentrates can offer. The labeling concept as suggested below can be developed specifically for the customer's targeted application to quantify and explain each benefit for the consumer.

According to Holly Hansen, Vice President Technical Services for Heritage Plastics said, "This comprehensive laboratory (with capabilities from basic resin or mineral characterization to full physical performance testing) is called upon regularly to enhance plastics processing. Hansen added, "Many of our customers are especially concerned about sustainability issues and come to us for solutions to reduce their overall carbon footprint."

The process begins with typical testing including: tear & impact strength, top load, stiffness, and dimensional changes. Prior to final trials, we confirm all high performance characteristics that will be achieved.

Also, Heritage Plastics has a portable "test kit" that can be taken to your plant to easily monitor the loading level of our concentrates as well as any changes in processing, cooling behavior, cycle time and energy inputs.

Notably, through a series of customer trials, the StyroCal™ product line (calcium carbonate concentrates for Polystyrene) was developed – with the overall result of increased productivity, improved performance and a significant savings on raw materials costs.